[danielf]

Originally Posted by Chris

"Polizei, kommen mit den Händen in der Luft" ... or something.

What you're describing here serves to underscore the fundamental difference between policing in the UK and just about everywhere else.

If you advocate a similar approach by British police, then you're calling for far more than simply allowing them to wear a side arm as a matter of routine. You're calling for a serious shift in the rules governing the use of police firearms, and that in turn calls for a shift in the relationship between the police and the public.

AFAIK at present firearms are not deployed unless there's a reasonable suspicion that the suspect is armed. It's the same basic principle of meeting force with comparable force that allows a British homeowner to blow a burglar's head off with his own shotgun. It's the same because Peel's of model of policing by consent, with the police officer simply a uniformed civilian with few powers over and above those of anyone else. Allowing police officers to draw a firearm without any cause other than to force compliance on a suspect puts things on a totally different footing.

In many other places policing is a paramilitary operation. It's not uncommon to see police officers in Europe routinely dressed in the sort of gear you don't see in the UK unless there's a full-scale riot in progress. I don't think we need to create that kind of separation between those of us who wear a uniform and those of us who don't.

I've read this a couple of times now, and I can only come to the conclusion that you appeal to vagueries because you really have no substantive arguments against equipping police with firearms.

Personally, I'm no fan of guns, and I like the idea that police don't carry firearms, but like Will21st, I have spent many years on the continent where police do carry firearms as standard. Like Will, I did not find it threatening in any way, and contrary to what you're suggesting it is actually extremely uncommon to see police officers dressed in riot gear, be it routinely or otherwise. I don't recall any harrowing statistics of scores of innocents being killed by the Police either. As suggested in Hugh's link, it's actually quite rare for the police to use their guns.

Like I said, I like the idea that the Police don't carry firearms as standard, but it really wouldn't bother me one bit if they started doing so.